Adam and Eve

People, we can start again
Adam and Eve if you want
But this time,
We'll respect God's word from the jump"

--Ghostface Killah, "No, No, No", 2007

People generally have two obsessions: the inescapable reality of death and the concomitant urge to be reborn. All deep thoughts, and all good art, are born in this crucible between the hammer of death and the anvil of the promise of rebirth.

But our obsession with rebirth is what makes us who we are. "Adam and Eve if we want". This is what we strive for.

All thinking people live their lives on two parallel tracks: one track consists of paperwork, grocery shopping, and so forth. The second track consists of indulgence in the unattainable, the irrational.

The urge to read books that can't make you richer or sexier, the urge to paint or write or photograph when there is no "rational" reason to do so.

Every sentient person realizes that his or her "life" is mostly crowded with errands, with bureaucracy, with formality. The challenge lays in reserving enough time and space to be human beings, rather than simply human doings.

And with variety being the spice of life, we owe it to ourselves to branch out when we seek our creative and artistic relief from the drudgery of W-2 forms and car insurance.

From Albert Einstein to Lil Wayne, there are endless sources of information. Khalil Gibran. Ghostface Killah.

"In much of your talking,
Thinking is half murdered
For thought is a bird of space
That in a cage of words
May indeed unfold its wings
But cannot fly"

--Khalil Gibran, "The Prophet", 1923

"Why's the sky blue?
Why is water wet?
Why did Judas rap to Romans
While Jesus slept?"

--Ghostface Killah, "The 7th Chamber, 1995